Bodiam is located near Robertsbridge, by the river Rother in East Sussex. Its construction began in 1385 and was funded and owned by Sir Edward Dallingridge. Bodiam is said to be the most spectacular private castle of the decade. Bodiam is the kind of castle that most people imagine when they think what a medieval castle is supposed to look like, with its large stone walls and towers surrounded by moat looking very dramatic and highly defensive. Bodiam to this day remains very intact and is one of the most visually striking medieval England castles. The only time that Bodiam castle was under threat was during the Wars of Roses, when forces of Richard III were sent to siege Bodiam, but the castle is said to have surrendered without any resistance.[1]
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The 'Battle for Bodiam ' became a debate on the function of Bodiam castle, but soon the debate included all castles that were built in the late Middle ages. In this essay I will talk about what were the original ideas behind Bodiam castle 's function, how those ideas were challenged, look into the archaeological, landscape and documentary evidence of the castle and its original owner and explain how they fit into the debate and whether this whole 'battle ' stagnated our understanding of castles as a whole or expanded it.
Bodiam castle for a long time was seen as one of the last true military castles to have been built. One of the reason for this view is the plainly visible defensive features of the castle. Bodiam castle has a large round tower on each of the four corner, a large square tower on the centre of each side, a moat surrounding the castle, tall stone walls, originally the southern square tower had a second gateway. Both gateways used to have bridges and the northern bridge had a right angle turn, this exposed any would be attackers crossing the bridge from the corner tower. At first glance, all this defensive features do indeed imply a military nature for the castle, but under more careful examination C.
The 'Battle for Bodiam ' became a debate on the function of Bodiam castle, but soon the debate included all castles that were built in the late Middle ages. In this essay I will talk about what were the original ideas behind Bodiam castle 's function, how those ideas were challenged, look into the archaeological, landscape and documentary evidence of the castle and its original owner and explain how they fit into the debate and whether this whole 'battle ' stagnated our understanding of castles as a whole or expanded it.
Bodiam castle for a long time was seen as one of the last true military castles to have been built. One of the reason for this view is the plainly visible defensive features of the castle. Bodiam castle has a large round tower on each of the four corner, a large square tower on the centre of each side, a moat surrounding the castle, tall stone walls, originally the southern square tower had a second gateway. Both gateways used to have bridges and the northern bridge had a right angle turn, this exposed any would be attackers crossing the bridge from the corner tower. At first glance, all this defensive features do indeed imply a military nature for the castle, but under more careful examination C.